The Beginning!

31/12/2009

This morning Mary and I arrived at the Ireland airport in Dublin at 8 am. The morning started off alright as we did get our luggage back. After retrieving our luggage, we went to the ATM for some Euros only to find that my debit card still had not authorized my card yet and therefore had no money!!

Exhausted, we opted for the most expensive cab ride EVER to our hotel Monte Clare in Dublin right near Trinity College. We took a shower and a quick nap so that we would be able to function for that evening which happened to be New Year’s Eve!
We walked around the Grafton street shopping after poking around Merrion Square Park by our hotel and briefly visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We didn’t have enough time to look through the church so we decided we would go back tomorrow. We went to dinner early. There was a live band and plenty of bouncers that would strike fear into the heart of many Minnesotan boys. The band was great but played American music almost exclusively (Including a Kings of Leon Cover!). We sat at a table hugging the wall in front of the bar right next to some table with “pour your own pints.” It looked fun but I bet it could get expensive quickly… we’ll have to try that sometime.

We turned in early, around eleven or so, and walked the icy streets back to our hotel.

1/1/2010 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Today we went back to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral and finally found it even though the street are POORLY marked. Thank you Postal skills! We’ll rely on our compass roses from now on I think.

We paid the entrance fee and poked around the church. There were so many brown signs within it you wouldn’t believe. We light a candle for Grandpa and grabbed few brochures before sitting in the tiny chairs that were used instead of pews. It is quite obvious that Mary and I are giants no matter where we go here. At least I can see everything eh? The kneelers were individual pillows hooked on the back of the chairs embroidered with unique patterns or family crests and names.

At the apex of the church, there are the banners and flags of regiments and clans carried in the various wars and battles. Some were in tatters and looked like spider webs hanging by threads. The Smithsonian would be shocked and appalled. Right by the entrance and in front of a window, there was the charter appointing one of the fathers of the church from Queen Elizabeth I (to the best of my memory) that was very cool (just like the patents from A Knight’s Tale) but very sun damaged on the side by the window. I couldn’t believe they would let it sit out like that.

In one of the side chapels, there was a wooden door with a rectangle hole in it. There had been two families in a war and one had taken refuge in the church. The family on the outside felt the violence was unnecessary and called for a truce. Those inside the church would not believe them until they hacked a hole in the door and stuck their hand through in a sign of friendship. The door on display was the same and the hole was there too.

Before dinner, we walked to Trinity to see the Book of Kells only to find the building locked and impenetrable… seems to be our luck these days. We continued on to find our bus stop for tomorrow’s bus to Galway. Good thing too because the only marking was a street sign.

We headed across the treacherously icy bridge and walked into a bar… a horrible, fruit fly ridden place. So after a pint we walked down the street and had a great dinner of shepard’s pie (which I would later find was an imposter as it was beef). It was good food and the barman was Quinlen’s twin. No toilet paper in the bathrooms though although there was a perfume machine that would spray whatever was in front of the nozzle for a Euro.

After dinner, we returned to the hotel and watched a hilarious comedian before sleeping.

2/1/2010 BUS TO GALWAY!

We packed up, checked out, and after forking over a good chunk of money, toted our bags to the bus stop on the Liffey. We were an hour early to the stop and opted to pay the difference and hop the early bus.
We drove on small roads through small towns and arrived at around one o’clock in Galway. On the way, the bus driver hopped out at a stop to by some lettuce… interesting!
We got to the bus depot in Galway and after I asked where Woodquay (“quay” I pronounced as the front of “quail” and was corrected, much to my embarrassment, as it is pronounced as “key”) and headed out. We walked for a good while and asked around five or six different people, hostels, shop keepers, and a hotel worker who had no idea where Bothar na mBan street was. I had sweated through my sweatshirt before we stopped in a Sleepzone hostel and asked the attendant where our apartment was.

Turns out, my apartment was connected to the Sleepzone! This was a bit of luck after a long, frustrating, and sweaty morning!The woman called my apartment manager who said he’d be there in 15 but actually showed up two and a half hours later…

We went into my apartment and it definitely reassured me. The street it is located on is a side street and is next to some sketchy streets with broken glass and etc. so it was a relief. My apartment nice and is on the large side with doors separating every single room and hallway to preserve heat and annoy me to death.
The bathroom is sizable with a heater on the wall that starts with a pull of a string and is hot off the bat. This is a great thing as the heat in my room does not work or is broken… great!

We went out to grab some groceries and find some things we would need for the apartment.
The only thing we have problem with is the internet access as my computer is not willing to cooperate with the connection.

Nearly spent, we headed to a pub to check things out. Again, we hit a dud the first time around but ran into a group of rugby fans at down the way before heading back.
Long, tiring day.

3/1/2010
Today we poked around the city which they told us would take a long while… LIES! We walked the big attractions in just under two and a half hours. First, we crossed the bridge and ran into St. Nicholas Cathedral, the church Christopher Columbus prayed at before heading to America and found they have daily mass at 6pm… we’ll return another day. Then we walked along the river through the engineering part of campus on Nun’s Island and turned into the Eyre Square (pronounced so that they rhyme).

We walked all the way to the dock area across from the Spanish Arch towards a barn with amusement park noises coming from it. We passed Swans and geese on our way to check it out.
Turns out, the barn is a temporary skating rink which charges twenty Euro for adults and only a little less for kids to skate on an area smaller that one end of a skating rink. What was funnier was the first aid station next to it which was equipped with a bed, a stretcher, and a trained professional… not to mention the ambulance outside. What trauma were they expecting? I don’t think they skate much.
We went to the Spanish Arch which wasn’t so large and then headed to the closed city museum before walking through the shopping area off of Eyre Square. We stopped in a shop (Thomas Dillon) which was one of the few still making the Claddaugh rings the original way instead of by machine. We picked up a few things and headed through the shops where we picked up our bathroom things before returning back.

For dinner, we tried to get to some trad music but no food was to be served so we headed across the street for Bangers and Mash, onion rings, and chicken goujon. We went over to The King’s Head to grab a pint as my book told me it was the place to be, but all we found were Americans. One wore a pink felt cowboy hat. We left quickly and headed back to a warm living room, our books, and finally our beds in sweatshirts and sweatpants.

4/1/2010
This morning I got a phone! Now we don’t have to rely on the news for the time and hope to wake up at a decent time!

We then headed across the bridge to explore the correct campus only to run into some international students from Minnesota! We toodled around a locked and closed campus, exchanged numbers and parted ways back in town.

Mary and I continued around town and walked to the tourist center to schedule our Cliffs of Moher tour for tomorrow. Thank you Bridget for making this possible! We bought a couple things at the center and then crossed the street to book our trip to the Aran Islands (Inish Moor) for the coming weekend (9-10/1/2010). We will be staying in a nice hostel on the Island. Exciting.

We planned to meet with the girls for dinner but since their apartment was a 40 minute bus ride they were too tired to make it and we set off after a while.
We made it to a pub recommended by a barman the first night. Great live music. We met a bus driver, his friend, and a group of Aussies on a tour. There was a hilarious conversation about our ‘paddywagon’ versus theirs as the guide for the Paddywagon tour was friends with the bus driver.
At another location, I went to the bar to grab a round and as slip of the tongue asked for Blumer’s (instead of Bulmer’s and it sounded like I said “Bloomer’s”) and the guy to my left turned to me and asked if I was drinking underpants for the night. Definitely embarrassing.

5/1/2010
We woke up and I made fun of her for falling last night…
We got up for an early shower and breakfast before heading for our tour bus from the depot.

We hopped on the bus and left with our short and animated bus driver around 10:15 am. As the country is enduring the coldest weather in history and ice has been covering everything, the country actually ran out of its entire store of salt! The driver let us know that we would not be seeing everything on the tour. Drat.

The roads and view were what I have been looking forward to. They were winding and VERY SMALL. I flinched with every encounter with an oncoming. Cattle and sheep were abundant and rock walls crisscrossed all over. We spotted nearly 10 or so castles and stopped at one on the way back. Very cool. There were ten of us on the tour.

We stopped in a small town pub for lunch in the middle of nowhere and had the best beef and Guinness stew EVER. I was full for the 234341st time on our trip. On the latter half of the drive to the cliffs, we saw thatch roofed cottages and bathtubs outside and passed the town with a month-long matchmaking festival! I’ll have to return next year!

The cliffs were amazing and everything we expected. Windy and very cold but very amazing. You could clearly spot the Aran Islands straight ahead. There was also a tower you could pay a couple Euros extra to climb for a little different view. Some people decided to jump the safety fence for some pictures… scary.
We returned to the room for a bit and headed to a pub for hot cocoa and free wi-fi.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, is the first day of orientation. We’ll get an early start and I will hopefully meet up with the girls we met yesterday for a while.

6/1/2010 ORIENTATION
I made Mary get up early this morning and we left for school at 7:30am only to find it locked like Monday. We walked around trying to find a map and ended up getting coffee and sitting and waiting for things to open up. After getting a map, I sat around and started this journal until 11:30am when the tour left the quadrangle in the center of campus.

I enjoyed the short but fiery tour guide who showed up with a huge bottle of 7up and battling a hangover.

Later, we ran into some of the students on our walk to Monroe’s pub and went into town instead to meet up with another group of exchange students.